Notin E Garbo wik

Notin E Garbo wik

62.181.08

This small painting portrays a woman wearing a strap dress ensemble. It is particularly interesting for the fur trade silver arranged on the straps and front flap, and details of multiple strands of bead necklaces, earrings, rings and bracelets, along with elaborate decoration on the skirt of the strap dress itself, which appears to be ribbons trimmed with linear beadwork. It is the only example of a strap dress with a peplum, which makes the depiction suspicious. Technically, it is not clear how a peplum could be added to a strap dress.

Eastman Johnson

1856 - 57

Anishinaabe

Grand Portage, MN

Text from the exhibit, "Eastman Johnson: Paintings and Drawings of the Lake Superior Ojibwe," at the Tweed Museum of Art, 2006: This woman is the most elaborately costumed of Johnson's Lake Superior sitters. The clothing and jewelry were Johnson's main interest; while her face is not as carefully finished as in many of the artist's Grand Portage pictures, he paid special attention to the strap dress, moccasins, earrings and beaded necklaces.

oil on canvas

Gift of Richard Teller Crane

strap dress

Eastman Johnson: Paintings and Drawings of the Lake Superior Ojibwe

Johnston, Patricia Condon. 1983. Eastman Johnson’s Lake Superior Indians. Afton, MN: Johnston Pub.

47.96147, -89.75949 (N 47°57′41″ W 89°45′34")

Low resolution images on this site are covered by Creative Commons 4.0. Requests for high resolution versions should be directed to the St. Louis County Historical Society.

oil painting

12 x 9 inches

not available online